Doomed to Repeat
by Pikapox
Summary: Terra is back, with no memories of her past as a Titan and Slade's apprentice. Beast Boy and Raven team up to decipher the reason for her unexpected return. BB/Terra, eventual BB/Raven. Takes place immediately after the events of "Things Change."
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is the result of my furiously rewatching Teen Titans within the course of a week. I have not read the comics, so please forgive any continuity errors you come across. I did some Wikipedia research, but nothing in depth. Hope you enjoy.

* * *

Beast Boy swooped on to the scene in the form of a hawk, diving down to the massive creature and hoping to pluck out an eyeball with his sharp beak. He got a beakful of dirt, the creature's latest medium, instead.

"Beast Boy!" Starfire shouted, sounding delighted and hopeful as she sent another green blast into the monster, "You are here!" Beast Boy squawked in acknowledgement and dove once more at the beast.

As he approached, he morphed into an octopus and wrapped his eight tentacles around the dirt monster. He squeezed tightly enough to force the monster to pieces, but it wrapped its claw around a metal beam, swung under it, and the pieces came back together as if magnetically attracted.

The monster was made of steel now.

"Rrrgh, no!" Robin roared, flinging an explosive disc toward the creature. It fell backward, but was virtually unharmed.

Raven and Starfire attacked it mercilessly, sinking bolt after bolt into its broad chest to no avail.

Beast Boy morphed quickly back into a hawk and took to the air, surveying the scene while carefully avoiding beams and long flats of drywall. A construction zone in the middle of the city was a terrible place for a battle.

He landed on human legs next to Cyborg, who was pulling out all of the stops. Tiny missiles shot from docks in his shoulders and knees, along with twin laser beams from his hands. They hit the swiftly moving beast, forcing it backwards into a large puddle that had formed where there was no cover over the construction.

The monster turned ruddy brown, sank into the mud, and vanished.

"Sorry, guys!" Cyborg said through deep, tired breaths, "Didn't mean to run him off."

"It is all right," Starfire said, "I am… 'wiped out.'"

Raven landed on her feet silently next to Robin.

"You finally showed up," Raven said to Beast Boy, "It took you long enough."

"Aw, you knew I would!" Beast Boy said with a grin, flexing his arms animatedly. Raven looked vaguely amused. Cyborg rolled his eyes.

"We needed you here," Robin said. "What took you so long?"

"I was talking to Terra," Beast Boy said defensively.

Robin turned on him almost instantly. "Your first priority should be the Titans, _not_ Terra," he snapped. Starfire nodded reluctantly, and Raven and Cyborg both tried to look as if they weren't listening.

"Hey, Terra is a Titan," Beast Boy said darkly, "I know you don't care about her, but I do."

"That's not true, Beast Boy, I just don't think you should go chasing her around while we're in danger! She seems fine. She doesn't need you as much as we do."

"How would you know?"

"Please!" Starfire shouted, "Stop with the fighting! You are friends!"

Robin crossed his arms and scowled. Beast Boy growled and turned away from him. "Need a ride, Cy?" he snapped. Cyborg nodded. Beast Boy transformed into his go-to transportation animal, a pterodactyl, and collected Cyborg in his talons before speeding off towards the tower.

* * *

"Robin's not trying to be hard on you," Raven said as she approached him. Beast Boy was sitting on the rocks with his knees up to his chest, watching waves crash against the shore of the island.

"Sure," he mumbled.

"He thought we were not going to make it without you there," Raven said. "If anything, he paid you a compliment."

"But you would have made it without me there."

"Well… yeah," Raven confessed. Beast Boy let out a short, terse laugh.

"It would have been significantly more difficult," she offered weakly.

"Of course it would have!" Beast Boy said boldly, shaking off his bitterness towards Robin so that he could joke with Raven, "I showed that thing who's boss."

"Pretty sure Cyborg is the one who ran it off," Raven commented. Beast Boy laughed. Raven took a seat next to him and they watched the waves for a few silent minutes.

Beast Boy enjoyed Raven's company. He could tell that she got annoyed with him, but she was fun to be around and she had quickly become his closest friend at Titans Tower—barring Cyborg, of course.

Eventually, she spoke.

"I know you care about her," she said, and Beast Boy tensed up immediately. He did not want another Titan to express their disapproval about his meetings with Terra.

"… which is why I want to help."

"Help? How?"

"Don't you want to know how she came back? Why she doesn't remember anything? What happened to her powers?"

"Well… yeah," Beast Boy said, scratching his head and leaning forward to listen more carefully over the roar of the waves, "but what can we do?"

"I… have a theory," Raven said. "I'm not sure about all of the details yet, but—"

"Beast Boy!" Starfire shrieked, racing up to Beast Boy and Raven, "Come quickly—it's Terra!"

Beast Boy and Raven were on their feet and racing to the tower in seconds.

Inside, Terra's likeness was on the screen in the living area. She was crying softly, and Robin and Cyborg were trying their best to console her and get some details.

"Terra!" Beast Boy screamed, "What's wrong? What happened? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Beast Boy," she said shakily, wiping the remaining tears from her eyes and straightening up to explain herself.

"When I got home from school, there was a man waiting in my house. He… he called himself Slade."

Starfire and Raven gasped, and Cyborg slammed his fist into the console in front of him. Robin's face showed no change, but Beast Boy was sure that his head was reeling. In fact, Beast Boy's head was reeling. He had told Terra about Slade when they went out for pizza earlier in the week, and then the fight with Slade at the amusement park… Beast Boy still hadn't decided if it was real or if it was all in his head, and he still hadn't shared the encounter with the rest of the Titans.

Terra was probably petrified.

"Continue," Robin said. "Did anything else happen?"

"No," Terra said. "He left. I just… I didn't know what else to do, or who else to call."

"It'll be okay, Terra," Beast Boy said sternly, "I'm coming to pick you up right now. You're staying at Titans Tower tonight."

She nodded.

"Please hurry, Beast Boy. I'm at the school."

The transmission ended.

"Starfire, go with Beast Boy," Robin ordered. Starfire nodded, and Robin continued speaking.

"I'm going to stay here and dig up what I can on Slade. Beast Boy, I'll need to talk to Terra when she gets here. I want to pay a visit to her house tonight and see what we find."

Beast Boy nodded, took the form of a cheetah, and loped off. Starfire followed, whizzing through the doors of the tower and into the setting sun.

Robin and Cyborg took to their computers immediately, and Robin cursed steadily under his breath as they tried to get a lock on Slade's most recent activities and whereabouts.

Raven felt as though she had been punched in the stomach. She hastily retreated to her room to meditate and regain her composure. Her theory, the one she was about to explain to Beast Boy… it was correct, so far.

* * *

Terra was wary of Starfire, who acted just as sweet on her as Beast Boy had when he first saw her. It was unnerving… these strangers, these superheroes, acting like they had known her for years.

"Terra, I am very excited to see you! It has been far too long!" Starfire said enthusiastically, sweeping the girl into her arms for a tight hug.

"I'm sorry… I don't know you," Terra said apologetically. Beast Boy had not said anything to her yet, but he was looking at her so intently that it was scary.

"I'm… fine, Beast Boy," she said finally, as Starfire released her from the hug and Beast Boy began to approach her.

"This is Starfire," he explained, "I told you about her, remember?" Then he paused and his face reddened, "I'm glad you're okay."

Terra smiled a bit and looked away. Starfire looked delighted at their interaction.

"Come!" she said, "Let us return to the tower and partake of the food made of junk!"

"Wanna go in style?" Beast Boy said with a grin. Terra and Starfire shot each other curious looks as Beast Boy morphed into a large stallion. Maybe he was trying to show off. Maybe he was trying to take Terra's mind off of Slade. Maybe he felt obligated to lighten the mood because he was Beast Boy, and that was his job. It was probably a combination of all three.

Terra looked shocked, but Starfire clapped her hands together and laughed gleefully. She grabbed Terra by the hand and floated them both up to land on Beast Boy's back. Terra reflexively wrapped her arms around Starfire's waist as they settled on to Beast Boy, holding as tightly as she could.

Beast Boy galloped through the darkened city, probably faster than he should have. Terra screamed, but it subsided into giggles as the wind blew Starfire's hair into her face. Mission accomplished.

As they approached the coast, he took a bit of a chance in diving toward the water and transforming into a pterodactyl in midair. Starfire didn't let anything happen to Terra and they both kept their balance, even as they squealed with fright and adrenaline.

Just a few flaps of his big leathery wings later, they were safely in front of the tower.

"That was a rush," Terra said, her eyes huge and her hair disheveled. "Yes, I am feeling very rushed!" Starfire added, her hair looking equally messy. Beast Boy, human again, took a deep bow, "My pleasure, ladies."

He thought Terra would be more freaked out, both by Starfire's powers and his own. He hoped briefly that maybe she really did remember and she was lying to them… but that would have hurt even worse. It really was just the same old thrill-seeking Terra. She didn't have her memories, but she certainly hadn't changed.

They rejoined Robin and Cyborg in the tower, both of whom were still working intently. Cyborg gave Terra a Starfire-esque hug, picking her up off of the ground.

"… Cyborg, right?" Terra said, and they both laughed. Robin offered her a smile and a firm handshake. "Welcome back, Terra," he said, "I'm glad you made it here safely."

He had that look about him, the one that betrayed just how badly he was itching to interrogate her.

"Where is Raven?" Starfire asked.

"Her room," Cyborg said. No one pursued the subject further—knowing the value and importance of privacy to Raven—and they instead returned their attention to Terra.

"Please," she said eventually, "Terra's not my name… at least, it's not anymore." She added the last bit as an afterthought, trying to keep in mind that these people knew her in the past—or, thought they did, at least.

"What do you want us to call you?" Beast Boy asked.

"My name is Atlee," she said. "It has been since I can remember."

"Atlee…," Beast Boy mumbled. The name sounded foreign on his tongue. It didn't suit her.

"Well, Atlee," Robin said, "I need to speak with you about what happened at your house. I'd like to go out there tonight and see what we can find."

Atlee nodded, and Robin gestured her away. She followed silently, giving Beast Boy a long, expressionless look as they left the living room. He wanted to follow, but he didn't.

He felt his stomach twist into knots. Slade's picture was plastered on to the computer screen that Robin had left open.

He had to tell them. Soon. How had he kept it from them for this long already?

The rest of the night was a blur. They never did get a chance to "partake of the food made of junk" per Starfire's suggestion because Robin and Raven paid a visit to Atlee's house as soon as Robin finished questioning her, and everyone else crashed in their beds as soon as Atlee was settled into her bedroom.

It had been a long, tiring day.

Beast Boy was going to tell Robin about his encounter with Slade's robot in the morning. He was not looking forward to it.

* * *

"What do you mean you fought Slade?" Robin yelled, "How could you not tell us this?"

"There was a lot going on and I—"

"NO! You're letting your feelings get in the way of your duties! You can't just _forget_ that you fought _Slade!_"

"It wasn't Slade, it was a robot!"

"Stop making excuses, Beast Boy. You need to get your head in the game."

"Please, Robin," Starfire said meekly, "Have easiness on Beast Boy. It is… difficult to make good judgments when you care for someone so much. You know this."

Robin gave Starfire a withering look, and she countered it with a very grave expression of her own.

But eventually he left the room, wordlessly. Starfire placed a consoling hand on Beast Boy's shoulder.

"We are in more danger than I thought," she said cryptically. Raven had been watching the interaction silently from her preferred reading spot against the kitchen counter. Cyborg was at Atlee's school, sitting in the T-Car on guard duty for the day.

Starfire floated out of the room, following Robin to offer her consolation.

Beast Boy meandered over to Raven and plopped down next to her. She closed her book and sat it neatly in her lap.

"I'm doing everything wrong," Beast Boy confessed, tired already and the day had just begun.

"We've handled Slade before," Raven replied. "We can do it again."

"Yeah, but… what could he want? Do you think it has something to do with Terra—er, Atlee?"

"Yes."

"Hm," Beast Boy said, because he didn't know what else to say. "Did you guys find anything last night?"

"No, nothing worth looking into."

"Darn," Beast Boy said.

"I told you I had a theory," Raven said, "I've been waiting for a moment to tell you."

"You don't want the rest of the Titans to know?"

"Not yet," Raven said, "It's not… a sure thing. But you're the most invested in Terra. You need to know, especially if I'm right."

"Then tell me."

"Okay, I think that Slade—"

The alarm went off, and the tower was drowned in the flashing red lights and the wailing siren that served as the Titans' call to action.

"I'll finish later," Raven said, although she looked annoyed at the interruption. The two sprang to their feet just as Robin and Starfire rushed back into the room.

"Titans, go!" Robin ordered.

And they were off.

* * *

Thankfully, it was a run of the mill bank robbery by a couple of idiot thugs. Robin had been prepared to call in Cyborg from his guard duties if the mysterious creature resurfaced.

The job was done within minutes. The thugs fled as soon as the Titans appeared, but Starfire caught them easily.

The cops handled it from there, and sent the Titans on their way with extreme gratitude, congratulations on a job well done, and gift cards to various restaurants around town.

The Jump City police force knew exactly what the teen heroes appreciated.

Beast Boy suggested they go out for pizza… since it would be free. The idea was immediately shot down by Robin, who was still a bit angry with Beast Boy.

"Okay, well… I'm going to go keep Cyborg company," Beast Boy said. He was ready to be away from Robin for a while, so they could both cool off. He also wanted to make sure Terra was okay, and figured Cyborg was bored.

"Fine," Robin said. Raven and Starfire wished him goodbye and he began walking toward Murakami School.

"Beast Boy!" Cyborg shrieked as soon as he caught sight of his best friend, "I'm so glad you're here! I was about to start disassembling the T-Car just to have something to do!"

Beast Boy grinned and leaped into the passenger's seat of Cyborg's baby, "I figured you might need some company. High school is way boring."

"Yeah, especially when you're watching from the parking lot."

"Is Terra okay?"

"She's doing good," Cyborg said, smirking a little at Beast Boy's obvious concern, "She came out here a few minutes ago. Brought me some of her lunch. She's… the same old Terra, isn't she?"

"Yeah, she is," Beast Boy said, and then—in the spirit of openness—shared with his best friend what he had told the other Titans that morning, "I fought one of Slade's robots a few days ago."

"WHAT?"

"I was looking for Terra, and it—attacked me," Beast Boy explained, although he couldn't maintain eye contact with Cyborg. He felt guilty for keeping this from the Titans for so long. A few days was a very long time in the world of criminal justice.

"What did he say to you?"

"He just said that Terra doesn't remember because she doesn't want to remember."

"So it was about Terra?" Cyborg looked incredibly interested, and very worried.

"Yeah," Beast Boy said, "Raven told me that she has a hunch, something to do with Slade and Terra, but I'm not sure quite what it is yet."

"This is not good, BB," Cyborg said ominously. Beast Boy nodded in agreement.

They spent the remaining couple of hours in the parking lot talking about Terra, Slade, and the mysterious creature that was roaming the city. It was good to talk with Cyborg, who seemed—of all the Titans—to understand Beast Boy and respect his decisions and his motives the most.

Finally, the last bell rang. Students poured out of the school, and Beast Boy found himself anxious to see Terra—Atlee. She was one of the last to come sauntering out of the school doors, flanked by her two friends who did not like Beast Boy very much.

Her face lit up when she saw Beast Boy sitting in the passenger's seat next to Cyborg, and Beast Boy instantly scrambled to the backseat so she could ride shotgun.

"Awwww," Cyborg teased, "such a gentleman."

"Hey, Beast Boy," Atlee said as she climbed into the T-Car, "Cyborg."

"Hey yourself," Cyborg said. "Hi, Terra," Beast Boy said at the same time.

"Atlee," she corrected him with a smile. She didn't seem upset. "Did you enjoy your lunch, Cyborg?"

"Nothing beats cafeteria food!" Cyborg laughed, "Reminded me of the good old days!"

"Anything exciting happen today?" she asked Beast Boy, turning around in her seat to look at him as Cyborg steered the car out of the parking lot.

"Not really, there was a robbery downtown but nothing I couldn't handle!" He wagged his eyebrows at her.

She grinned. She looked, acted, sounded so much like her old self. And although so much was going on, and she had been threatened by Slade last night, and she was now being guarded 24-7 by the Titans, she seemed… fine. No normal high school girl could handle all that. And Beast Boy couldn't help but admire that gumption.

* * *

"Robin, I think that perhaps you are being too hard on Beast Boy," Starfire said, "he is not trying to burden you."

"He's not burdening me, Star, he's endangering the team. He's being reckless and keeping secrets."

"I know this, but it's only out of concern for Terra that he does such things."

"He's a Titan first. He can't let a… girl affect him the way that Terra does."

Starfire pouted. "Do I not affect you the way Terra affects Beast Boy?"

"It's not the same, Star," he said, pulling her close, "You make me a better Titan."

Starfire smiled and leaned in for a lingering kiss, pushing the words left unspoken to the back of her mind.

She didn't want to think about the fact that Terra made Beast Boy a worse Titan. It was inconvenient. It stung, and it made her heart ache for her friend. And worst of all, she feared that it was true.

* * *

Dinner was six pizzas delivered to Titans Tower—Beast Boy always got his own made with vegan "cheese" and since he got his own pizza, Cyborg thought it only fair that everyone get their own pizza.

After dinner, Beast Boy sat through a very awkward apology session with Robin. He was pretty sure Starfire was behind it all… but there were no hard feelings. Beast Boy wasn't the type to hold grudges and Robin wasn't the type to get upset with another Titan unless it was warranted.

Later that night, Beast Boy, Atlee, and Cyborg played video games while Raven read and Starfire and Robin spoke in hushed whispers in the corner. Atlee fit in effortlessly, it seemed.

When Cyborg teased Star and Robin, Atlee joined in. She asked Raven what she was reading and held her own in a conversation about literature that Beast Boy would never have been able to contribute to. She teamed up with Cyborg to slaughter Beast Boy in a game of Doom Monkey 3.

She was perfect. And Beast Boy wanted to be alone with her.

After he lost his fourth consecutive round of Doom Monkey 3, Beast Boy decided he'd had enough video games for one night. Cyborg shrugged and headed for the garage, mumbling something about a few small repairs he needed to make to the T-Car.

Beast Boy and Atlee were alone on the couch. Beast Boy flipped through channels and finally settled on a mindless cartoon. Raven, Starfire, and Robin were still there, but they weren't paying attention.

Beast Boy didn't know how he ended up with his arm around Atlee, but she didn't seem to mind. She even returned the gesture with by placing her small hand on his knee. He beamed when she did that.

The later it got, the bolder he became with his little touches and shameless flirting.

"Do you want to go outside with me?" he breathed into her ear. She turned her head to look at him, and their faces were mere inches apart.

"Yeah," she responded breathlessly.

He grabbed her by the hand and led her out. Raven looked up from her book to watch them leave, and followed—heading for the roof to meditate.

"Terra," Beast Boy confessed as soon as they were outside, "There was a… before you started working for Slade—when you were still a Titan, you brought me to the amusement park and we almost…" He trailed off, but his eyes were on her lips.

"Kissed?" she asked. She didn't bother to correct him for calling her Terra.

"Yeah," he said, "I liked you a lot. I think you liked me too."

"I still do, I mean—I do now," she stammered.

Beast Boy blushed, and Atlee continued speaking.

"I just… I'm confused, Beast Boy. I believe you. You and the other Titans… you guys don't seem like the type to lie, especially not about something like this. But it's hard to wrap my head around. My life has always been average. I can't comprehend this… me being a Titan, and having powers… and I don't even want to think about me being a villain."

She hung her head in shame and whispered, "I don't know what's real, Beast Boy."

"This is real!" he said desperately. "You're a Titan, and you always will be… and I know you'll be able to remember one day!"

She looked out at the darkened sky. The only sounds were Beast Boy's breaths and the waves lapping at the shore of the island. The sounds were comforting and far too familiar.

"I don't want to," she confessed finally, "I can't… I can't deal with what I became, Beast Boy. I was a monster."

"No!" he shouted, and then his voice softened, "You were human, Terra. You made mistakes. We all do… but you saved us, in the end! Without you we would all be dead."

She didn't say anything. She didn't look up.

"I thought I had lost you forever," Beast Boy told her. "When I saw you on the street, when I took you out for pizza… that was the happiest I've felt since that night."

"What night?"

Beast Boy kissed her.

The earth began to tremble beneath them.

* * *

A/N: I like Terra. Even though this will eventually become BB/Rae, you will not find any Terra-bashing in this fic. "Atlee" is Terra's given name in the Supergirl comics; I used it here because I needed an alternate name and I kind of like it. And yes, if you're rooting for Beast Boy then you may think Robin is being a prick, but he's looking out for the best interests of the team. The next chapter should be posted soon; it is already half written. Please review!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I forgot to mention last time that this takes place after the events of Trouble in Tokyo & the last episode of the series… which is why Star and Robin are in an established relationship. Sorry if I caused any confusion. I want to thank everyone who read the first chapter, and I hope you enjoy this one as well!

* * *

He had been expecting fireworks when they kissed, but he felt like the earth was giving way, like the whole world was crumbling beneath the weight of this long-awaited kiss.

And she kissed him back, and he felt like the island might open up and swallow them whole—just the two of them. He couldn't help it; he pulled her closer.

The ground roared and a fissure cracked open in the rock beneath them.

_Oh._

He opened his eyes and shoved her away. "Terra!" he shouted, arms spread to keep his balance on the quaking rock. "Terra!"

When her eyes opened, they were glowing golden yellow. She let out a piercing scream as she began to rise on a wave of rock that grew upward beneath her feet.

Beast Boy was a pterodactyl instantly, surging up with force to land on Terra's steadily rising platform as he morphed back into human form. He grabbed her by the shoulders. "Terra!"

She couldn't hear. She was babbling, frantic, confused, and her eyes were still violently alight.

A burst of black energy from the top of Titans Tower, and Terra hit the ground—unconscious. The earth grew still. The platform of rock that Beast Boy and Terra were on slowly retreated back into the ground.

Beast Boy was on his knees, at Terra's side in an instant. She had a gash on her forehead from the force with which her head hit the rock, but she seemed fine otherwise.

Raven descended from the top of the tower. Beast Boy had to bite his lip to keep from yelling at her for hurting Terra.

"I didn't mean to hurt her," Raven said, mere inches behind Beast Boy, "But it had to be done." She ghosted a pale hand over Terra's forehead and the gash vanished.

The other Titans came bursting from the Tower. "What's going on?" Robin demanded. "Was it Terra?"

Beast Boy nodded. "We… I… we were talking, and then she…"

"So she does still have powers," Cyborg said, but he certainly did not look pleased. Starfire gazed at the unconscious Terra compassionately.

"Shall we bring her inside, so that she may recover?" she asked.

"Probably a good idea," Robin said. Raven extended a tendril of her power to lift Terra delicately off of the ground and carry her inside the tower. As she left, she gave Beast Boy a significant look. Beast Boy started to follow her.

"Beast Boy," Robin said, "I need to speak with you." Cyborg and Starfire took that as their cue to leave, and quickly caught up with Raven.

Beast Boy knew what was coming. Robin was going to chide him, warn him to be careful. Terra was dangerous, and volatile, and do you remember what happened last time we trusted her? He had heard it all before. He knew the risks. But Terra was a Titan, and he was going to treat like all the rest no matter what Robin had to say.

"You need to be careful," Robin said, as soon as the others were out of earshot. "Terra was unstable before. We thought she would be okay because she lost her powers, but that's clearly not true."

Beast Boy nodded curtly, impatient but trying not to show it. "She just put the whole city in danger," Robin continued. "It can't happen again."

He spoke as if he knew Beast Boy had kissed her, as if he knew it was Beast Boy's fault for bringing her emotions and her powers bubbling to the surface.

"It won't," Beast Boy snapped.

"You can't make that assumption," Robin snapped right back, "You remember what happened last time we trusted her?"

"Yeah, she saved our lives!" Beast Boy yelled.

"She saved us from a life-threatening situation that she put us in in the first place, Beast Boy," Robin said levelly, just a hint of sympathy in his voice. "I can't—I won't allow her to hurt another person. I don't care if it's accidental or not."

He spoke with finality. Beast Boy sighed and watched as Robin turned on his heel and returned to Titans Tower.

Beast Boy morphed into a field mouse and scurried up to the tower. He felt small, and it was easier to feel small when he was a small creature… an old relic of Mento's instruction. Beast Boy could hear Mento's voice now: "The feelings match the animal, Beast Boy. Funnel your emotions into your transformations."

He felt like he should be rushing to the tower's infirmary, but his mind was… jumbled. The kiss, the earthquake, Raven's "I need to talk to you" look, Robin's accusatory tone. A lot had happened in the past few minutes, and Beast Boy was on autopilot because of it. His paws carried him as quickly as they could, and he returned to his human form right before entering Titans Tower on the ground floor.

Four wide-eyed Titans were looming over Terra's unconscious form when Beast Boy made it to the tower's tiny infirmary. Cyborg was holding a wet cloth to her forehead, and Robin's arms were crossed defensively—as if she might hop up and start another earthquake at any second—but his face was etched with concern.

"Is she okay, Cy?" Beast Boy asked, approaching the exam table she was sprawled out on. Cyborg nodded, "Just fine. Slight fever, but it's probably a remnant of that crazy rush of power she had."

"I can't believe…," Beast Boy started to say, but then he realized he didn't know how to finish his thought. "I'm glad we were here when it happened," he said finally, although it sounded lame and he had to remind himself that it was probably his fault in the first place.

"We were lucky," Cyborg commented. Beast Boy watched Terra anxiously, wanting so badly for her to wake up, thinking about that seconds-long kiss and everything that it meant.

She began to stir.

* * *

_It was dark, pitch black and utterly silent. She knew from the start that she was not alone. What was this place? And who was hiding in the blackness?_

"_Terra," a male voice said from behind her, as if on cue. It was smooth and dark, and it frightened Terra to her bones… but she wanted to hear more. She swerved around to glimpse the owner of the voice, but was greeted with the same darkness that surrounded her on all other sides._

_The voice continued to speak. "You remember me, Terra."_

_Yes, she did. She knew that voice like her own, if only she could place it… A hand snaked out from the darkness and latched on to her throat, squeezing like a vicegrip. She tried to scream but no sound could escape her save for a wheeze._

"_What is my name, apprentice?"_

_The fingers were like gloved bones, thin and cold but so very painful. These fingers had been wrapped around her throat before. The man attached to this hand… he owned her, body and mind._

"_Slade…," she managed to choke out, sputtering violently due to her inability to breathe._

_The hand released her and she fell to the ground in a fit of coughs, sucking in as much air as she could now that her passages were open again. The bony fingers found her face and caressed it, and she shuddered and shrank away from the touch. She prepared to stand—and found herself hauled up by her wrists… face to face with Slade._

_The mask could not hide his smile._

_He began to laugh, and in the blackness far behind him two giant eyes—furiously red and each as big as Slade's bony hand—opened. _

_She screamed._

* * *

Terra lurched forward, eyes wide and frenzied and frantic. She clutched her chest, breathing heavily and eyeing the Titans defensively as she tried to regain her bearings.

"Terra!" Beast Boy shouted, darting past Starfire so that he could get closer to the girl he had kissed only minutes earlier. Terra's eyes shot up at him, glaring, distrustful-but immediately softened.

"Beast Boy, I remember…," she whispered. Her breaths grew quicker and shallower as she inspected her hands, turning them back and forth and even inspecting the dirt caked beneath her fingernails.

"I remember everything," she said with a sob, and then the tears started falling. Beast Boy's arms were around her instantly and she sagged against him. She remembers… it's a lot to come rushing back all at once.

It reminded Beast Boy of what she had said to him only a few minutes ago: _"I can't deal with what I became, Beast Boy. I was a monster."_

The other Titans seemed frozen in place. They were equipped to handle an earthquake, but not this.

Terra cried silently into Beast Boy's shirt. He could only tell she was crying because of the dampness on his chest, but he held her tight and said nothing. Eventually, she broke away from him, wiped the tears from her eyes, and crossed her arms tightly against her chest—trying to make herself small.

Robin was the first to break the silence that has settled over them. "Terra, do you still have control over your powers?"

Beast Boy didn't think it was the most appropriate question to ask a girl who just regained the ability to move earth with her mind and all of her memories about nearly destroying an entire city, having her body taken over by an evil mastermind, and getting turned to stone… but he didn't interrupt.

Then a potted plant in the corner shattered, and the soil from the pot flew across the room and hit the opposite wall with a loud thud. The plant, still attached to the soil by its roots, fell to the ground in a messy heap.

"Yes," Terra answered. Robin didn't seem satisfied, but he shrugged it off and said, "You can stay here as long as you need to. We'll still have a Titan guarding you everyday, but I will expect to see you at training from now on. We need to train you to control your emotions. I can't let another earthquake happen."

Terra gave a short nod, although her eyes were averted. She looked as though she might cry again at any second, but she was trying to put on a brave face.

Robin approached and put a hand on her shoulder. "We're here for you, Terra," he said, and left the room briskly, his cape fluttering behind him.

"I'm going into the city to survey the damage," he called out as he left.

Starfire was next to approach Terra, shoving Beast Boy aside (they had always competed for Terra's affection, after all) and giving her a big hug. "I know that this is difficult," she said, "but you are deserving of the truth and of your memories." Terra half-heartedly returned the hug, sniffling a bit into Starfire's shoulder. Starfire gave her a big smile and then dismissed herself to join Robin.

Raven started to speak to Terra, but was interrupted by Cyborg. "I think you need to stay in here for a while longer," he said, "You had a pretty bad fever, and I'd feel better if you were in here where I can monitor it instead of in your bedroom."

Terra smiled a bit and said, "Thanks, Cy." Beast Boy felt a surge of gratitude for his best friend.

"Now," Cyborg said to Beast Boy and Raven, "why don't you two run along so that Terra can get some rest?"

Beast Boy nodded. "I'll come visit you in a few hours," he told Terra, touching her arm one more time just… because. He didn't know if he wanted to comfort her with the action or if he wanted to be comforted.

"I'll be waiting," she said as she settled back down against the sloped exam table. "It's good to see you again, Terra," Raven muttered as she pushed open the door, although she sounded distracted and a bit on edge.

Beast Boy followed Raven into the hallway, where she whirled around to face him immediately—the look on her face frightening in its intensity.

"I need to talk to you—now."

"Um," he squirmed under Raven's scrutiny, "Kay. What about?"

"Terra," Raven replied without skipping a beat. "Let's go somewhere private."

Part of Beast Boy wondered if Raven was jealous of Terra, but he shook off the misguided suspicion almost immediately—certain that this conversation would have something to do with Slade, Terra's mysterious return, and other things he'd rather not think about. He followed Raven to a corridor of the tower that housed one bedroom—her own, and wondered if he'd finally be allowed back in (for the first time since the meditation mirror incident).

But Raven stopped short of her bedroom door and said, "This will be fine."

"Okay, so…," Beast Boy said uncomfortably, shifting back and forth on his feet, "Let's talk."

Raven shut her eyes and took a deep breath before she began to speak, her eyes boring into his as if willing him to understand and to _stay calm_. "Towards the end of Terra's… life," she said carefully, "she and Slade were inexorably connected. The connection was so powerful that Terra became an extension of Slade that he could control, like a limb."

"But she managed to break his control," Beast Boy reminded her.

"She did," Raven acknowledged, "but those bonds were powerful. They were more than an enchantment, they were physical, mental, emotional bonds that Slade forged to be… indestructible, almost."

"So what are you saying, Raven?"

"She bucked his control briefly," she said carefully, "but the bonds weren't severed. We presumed that when Slade fell into the lava that he died. The same with Terra when she turned to stone."

She gave Beast Boy a long, sad look—hoping he could make the connection on his own. He didn't. She would have to say it out loud.

"Slade didn't stay dead for long," she said, "He was resurrected by Trigon, using the Mark of Scath."

Beast Boy gasped, "You mean…."

"Yes," Raven said grimly, "When Trigon resurrected Slade, he unknowingly resurrected Terra as well. The connection was that powerful."

Beast Boy felt sick to his stomach. He wasn't sure… what that meant, or what the implications of Terra's resurrection by Trigon were. He asked.

"What… what does it mean, Raven?"

"I'm not really sure yet," she confessed, "but… it explains Terra and Slade's return."

"So… does Terra have the Mark of Scath?"

"I don't think so. Robin told me that Slade got what he wanted from Trigon—his flesh and blood—and the mark presumably vanished."

"… which means, Terra had the mark, but not anymore."

"Exactly," Raven said, looking a bit taken aback by his astute answer.

"But… what about her memories and her powers? Why were they gone?" Beast Boy agonized, feeling blindsided and overwhelmed. His arms fell limp against his sides as he tried to process everything that Raven just told him; he knew from the tone of her voice that this was no longer a mere theory. She was right, she was absolutely right about everything.

Raven's expression softened, "I'm not sure."

"Slade told me that she doesn't remember because she didn't want to," Beast Boy confessed, eyes down, "that her powers were stifled because she didn't want them."

"It makes sense, Beast Boy. I can't imagine waking up alone in a cave after all she went through is an… easy thing to do."

"But it means that she didn't want to remember us… or me."

"The mind is… strange, Beast Boy," Raven said, uncharacteristically open, "Sometimes there are things buried so deep in the subconscious that they're almost unnoticeable, but they can dictate a person's entire life. I can't imagine Terra wanted to forget you, but she spent her entire life running from herself... I'm sure deep down she wanted to forget everything else."

Beast Boy never thought he'd be receiving consolation from Raven, but her reasoning and her level-headedness made sense and he actually felt comforted by her words. His heart ached for Terra, for what she must have been feeling when she woke up in that cave alone, for the pressure and the weight of her feelings—so intense that she finally forgot everything and rewrote her own memories just so she could cope.

"I was on the roof while you two were speaking for a reason, Beast Boy."

_That's right_… Raven had been right there, ready to subdue Terra almost as soon as the earthquake began.

"I assumed you were meditating…," he said.

"I was… sort of," she confessed, "I knew that if I was right, a big swell of emotion would probably bring it all rushing back. It was you, Beast Boy." She said it without judgment, but Beast Boy felt… uncomfortable at the notion that Raven knew, that she had effortlessly anticipated their next move, and that she was the one ready to protect them when it all went to hell. He felt… inadequate and grateful and uneasy; he felt guilty for rushing into pursuing a relationship with Terra and indebted to Raven for her help and for her protection and her vast intelligence. But Raven was just looking at him expectantly, waiting for him to ask another question.

He didn't want to burden her further so he grinned, pushing all those thoughts to the back of his mind, "Thanks, Rae."

She looked irritated at his use of the nickname. "You're welcome… _Garfield."_

* * *

A/N: Thanks for reading, please review! It would really help me in the motivation/encouragement department. Til next time!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Hope you guys enjoy this chapter! Warning: it may be a while before the next update; I am in the midst of finals, I'm graduating college, moving out-of-state for grad school, etc, etc. Rest assured that I will get the next chapter up as soon as I can, though! Oh, and I want to sincerely thank my reviewers. You guys really made my day! Also, thanks to everyone who favorited the story, and everyone who put it on story alert. So much love, you guys!

* * *

Terra wasn't sure how she felt. It was an odd combination of disgust with herself, giddiness from the memory of Beast Boy's lips against hers, fear of the dream she had just awoken from, and gratitude for being here in Titans Tower with people she knew would look out for her. Cyborg's meaningless chatter as he tended to her was strangely comforting, and she thought maybe she should be acting a bit more traumatized than she felt.

They all seemed very concerned, after all, and she was… the same. It had always been her style though, to cry it out and move on. Before the Titans and before Slade it had been the same old pattern, town after town: stay for a few weeks, incite a crippling natural disaster, mourn briefly, and move on to the next—always with the hope that _this time_ it would be different.

It was no wonder she forced her life and her powers out of her mind when she woke up… her life was terrible, and the only time she ever felt normal or happy or unburdened was during her brief stint with the Titans, and when she could push away her thoughts of Slade and her mission long enough to get caught up in Beast Boy's eyes and smile and laugh.

"So… we can call you Terra again, right?" Cyborg asked as he rummaged through a tiny medicine cabinet against the far wall.

"Um, yeah," Terra said with the tiniest of chuckles, "I don't know where 'Atlee' came from… I guess I was desperate to be anyone but Terra." She said it lightly, almost playfully, but was surprised by how much it stung to hear it from her own mouth.

"Well… I'm glad you're back," Cyborg said with a grin, like nothing had ever happened to shatter the trust between Terra and the Titans. She was relieved and she couldn't help but return the smile, a bit cautiously.

"So, can I get out of here?" she asked, "I feel fine."

"Ohhhh no," Cyborg chided, "Not if there's gonna be an earthquake every time you and BB are together unsupervised." He wagged his eyebrows suggestively with a rather condescending smirk. She huffed but didn't really know what to say to counter that.

"Besides, you need some rest," he continued, "That outburst took a lot out of you."

"Yeah, how did you… you know, subdue me?"

"You don't remember?" he asked incredulously. She shook her head.

"… Raven kind of knocked you out with her powers," Cyborg said slowly, unsure if Terra would take offense. Terra was a bit surprised; she remembered kissing Beast Boy, losing control of her powers, and then waking up in the examination room—so she assumed that Beast Boy had been the one to incapacitate her.

Honestly, she would have preferred if it had been Beast Boy. Her friendship with Raven had been rocky at best, and she had a feeling that Raven wouldn't be nearly as forgiving as the other Titans.

"Oh," she said finally, "Well that's… she's got good timing."

"Always," Cyborg agreed, "She'd never let anything bad happen to the team."

The siren rang out without warning, wailing loudly and casting its flashing red lights against every surface in the room. Terra tensed up immediately, and Cyborg dropped the medicines that he was holding onto the floor with a clatter. Robin burst into the infirmary mere seconds later, eyes set and birdarang in hand—ready for a fight.

"Terra," he ordered, "Stay here. Starfire's going to stay with you. Cyborg, let's go!"

They dashed out of the room, and Terra fought the urge to follow. She knew that right now Robin considered her a liability, so she simply listened. The alarm ended rather abruptly, and Starfire flew into the infirmary.

"Terra, I am sorry that your resting has been interrupted," she gushed, her face stained with worry, "but I fear that the creature we've been fighting fang and screw has returned!"

'Fang and screw,' Terra assumed, was broken Tamaranean English for 'tooth and nail.' She remembered being a witness to one of the Titans fights when she was 'Atlee,' and she remembered Beast Boy mentioning a mysterious creature that could take the form of whatever medium it was touching. That had to be the creature that Starfire was referring to.

"Will they be okay without you?" Terra asked.

"Yes," Starfire said with a worried sigh, "I was not much help last time we encountered it."

"It is powerful," she continued, "but they will pull through." Terra could tell that Starfire was itching to be part of the battle, despite her own confession that she wouldn't be much help.

"Sorry you're stuck here with me," she mumbled.

"Nonsense!" Starfire gasped, "I am truly delighted to be spending time with my long-lost friend; I only wish that we could also be helping in the defeat of the monster!"

A few silent seconds passed, and Starfire spoke, "Robin fears that you do not have control of your powers, and that is why we are here."

"But… I feel in control," Terra said, "The earthquake was a fluke… it had to be. It only happened because…" She trailed off, trying to find the words to explain herself. It had to have been a one-time thing, caused by the trauma of all her memories flooding back…? Or something like that.

Slade had taught her control, although it might have been in the worst way and he ended up taking control of her himself. She wasn't convinced that she had lost her ability to control her powers… and she really didn't want to start over, didn't know how she could.

"Beast Boy?" Starfire asked, with knowing eyes and a slight smile. "He has that effect on people. Drives them to the crazy.'"

Terra laughed.

"But he loves you," Starfire said, oblivious to the fact that 'love' was quite a strong word to be using, "You have made him happier than a _stinermite_ in the belly of a feasting _flarnop_!"

Terra felt her face redden, and she found herself hoping Starfire would change the subject because she had no idea how to respond to that. She was having trouble finding the right thing to say to anyone, it seemed like.

"What time is it?" she asked finally. It was still dark outside, but she had no idea how long she was out for.

"It is 4:30 a.m.," Starfire chirped, "Shall we prepare the breakfast?"

Terra nodded, feeling exhaustion hit her like a brick wall now that she knew the time.

* * *

"Beast Boy," Raven hissed, "_pay attention._" She hit the monster with a burst of black energy at it bounded towards Beast Boy, who seemed to be oblivious to the imminent danger. When he heard Raven he leapt into action, morphing into a cheetah and leaping at the beast's front as Raven continued to hit it from the side.

Because it was steel, it didn't budge an inch and carelessly flung Beast Boy away with a massive arm. Cyborg and Robin were waiting on either side and they each grabbed one of the creature's arms, keeping it from escaping. Raven began to barrage it with blasts, each one more powerful than the next.

The monster was thrashing madly, and Beast Boy attempted to climb up its legs and arms to get to its face but was unable to in the form of a cheetah. He morphed into a hawk and began to peck at the creature's eyes.

The creature bucked and kicked, and snapped its huge jaw at Beast Boy. Robin and Cyborg were struggling to keep their grip. With a huge roar, the steel beast ripped himself away from them and melded into the broad steel beam behind it.

Vanished, again.

"Man, I thought we had him this time!" Cyborg shouted, kicking angrily at the ground. Frustration was emanating off of Robin in waves, and Raven was silently fuming. Beast Boy morphed back into his human form as he landed next to Cyborg. "My teeth are _killing_ me!" he said, cradling his jaw with his hands.

"That would be because you were pecking at a monster made of steel, genius," Raven deadpanned.

Beast Boy laughed a bit at his own expense, "Yeah, that's right, huh…"

"Let's go home," Robin said, "There's no telling when or where it will resurface."

The four Titans headed for the T-Car parked a few blocks over. Beast Boy silently surrendered shot-gun rights to Robin, simply because he didn't feel like getting into another argument with him.

"What were you thinking about back there?" Raven asked, looking intently at Beast Boy.

"Yeah, man, you seemed kind of out of it," Cyborg added.

"I wasn't out of it," Beast Boy mumbled.

"You didn't realize that thing was after you until it was almost on top of you," Raven said, "I'd consider that 'out of it.'"

"Sorry, I'm just… tired, I guess." He glanced at the clock on the T-Car's console. 5:42 a.m. The sun was beginning to peek up over the horizon.

Raven's eyes lingered on Beast Boy for a few uncomfortable seconds, but she didn't say anything else. The rest of the ride was silent, save for the tired yawns that escaped each of them every few minutes.

Beast Boy was ready to see Terra, and still reeling from his conversation with Raven. He thought about whether or not he should fill Terra in on all of it, and then figured it might be easier for Raven to do. He'd ask her when he could get her alone again, and that got him started thinking about how long they should keep this a secret from Robin, Cyborg, and Starfire… it was _kind of _a big deal.

Raven would know, he decided. She was the one who put it together, after all, so she would know the best time to come clean about it to the rest of the Titans. Beast Boy made a mental reminder to himself to have another chat with Raven soon.

When they made it back to the tower, Starfire and Terra had an impressive breakfast spread prepared. Pancakes with butter and syrup, bacon, eggs, and five tall glasses of milk. Beast Boy looked a little crestfallen until Terra sat a baked potato in front of him, overflowing with chopped onions and peppers.

"Dude, you are awesome!" he said. She grinned, "Yeah, sorry it's not breakfast food, but we didn't know what else to make for you." Starfire nodded in agreement.

"It's amazing," Beast Boy practically sang as he took the first bite. Cyborg scoffed, "Please, BB. There's no way it can beat this!" He enthusiastically dug into his bacon and eggs, and the rest of the Titans followed suite.

There really wasn't much more speaking at breakfast, only the sound of forks clanking against dishes and big gulps of drink and Beast Boy's eager chewing.

With bellies full, the Titans began to realize that they had been up all night. One by one, they retreated to their bedrooms to catch up on much-needed sleep. Beast Boy hung around the kitchen, hoping to catch Terra alone. She seemed to be doing the same thing, and Starfire—the only person left in the kitchen with them by that point—put her dishes in the sink and left them with a smile. "Good night, friends!"

"Night," Beast Boy and Terra called out in unison, and both immediately began to blush and looked away from each other.

Now that they were alone, Beast Boy was faced with the problem of finding something to say to her. He finally settled on "So, you're doing okay?"

She nodded, busying herself by scraping scraps from breakfast into the trash can. "I feel fine. Whatever medicine Cyborg gave me to get the fever down helped a lot."

"I'm glad," he said sincerely, with a tiny smile on his face. "I was really worried about you."

"And how was the battle?" Terra asked.

"Not so great," Beast Boy answered lamely with a sigh, "We just… can't figure out how to beat this thing."

"Hmm," Terra murmured thoughtfully, still avoiding eye contact. Beast Boy took a deep breath and said, a bit too quickly, "And I was kind of distracted… thinking about you."

Terra blushed, but she looked at him. "That's not a good thing, Beast Boy. You shouldn't let me get in the way of your mission."

"I can't help it," he confessed. "You know how I feel about you."

"Yeah," she said, sounding misty and far-away, looking down into the sink, "And I feel the same." She dropped a pile of dishes in the sink and turned around, and he was only inches from her, his eyes big and full of concern.

"I… so it's okay if I do this?" he asked cautiously, reaching a slim finger to her face and pushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

She nodded.

"No earthquakes this time?" he asked with a playful smile. She shook her head, "Not this time."

She initiated the kiss this time, fueled by adrenaline and caffeine and a need for comfort and Starfire's insistence that she made him happier than a _something-something_. He looked shocked, but his hands found her sides almost immediately and he pulled her closer as he leaned into the kiss.

It was only a few seconds, and Beast Boy was smiling when she finally worked up the courage to look him in the eye.

"We should go to bed," he said, "You've gotta be tired."

"That's an understatement."

He walked her to her bedroom and gave her a kiss on the cheek before he turned around and disappeared down the hallway.

Terra was so out of sorts and giddy as she crawled into her bed, the only thing she could think about was how strange it was to go to sleep while the sun was up.

* * *

Raven woke up, startled by a particularly unsettling dream. It couldn't have been later than 9 a.m. by now, and she groaned as she dragged herself from bed—figuring there was no way she'd be going back to sleep now.

The dream was hazy, but Trigon, Slade, and Terra were key players—along with the strange creature currently terrorizing Jump City. The most unsettling part of it was that Raven wasn't sure if it was a warning of sorts, or if it was just a dream. After all, those four had been weighing heavily on her mind lately.

She got ready slowly, thinking hard about her dream as she took her shower and brushed her teeth and continued through her morning drudgery. Like most dreams, though, the more she thought about it the more muddled it all became.

She trudged into the kitchen after slipping into her uniform to prepare some tea. She was still uncomfortably full from the breakfast she'd eaten only a couple hours earlier, and fighting drowsiness. She pulled an unopened box of caffeinated tea from the cupboard and tore it open. Raven had never been much on stimulants, as they kept her from meditating properly, but she would need a little caffeine if she was going to function today on little over an hour-and-a-half of sleep.

"Hey," Beast Boy grumbled, sleepy-eyed from the couch, "Who's there?"

"It's me," Raven said, and Beast Boy swung himself upward into a sitting position.

"Why are you up so early?" he demanded, as though she were committing a crime right in front of his eyes.

"It's 9:30 a.m.," she said, "Not really early by most standards. Why exactly are you sleeping on the couch?"

"Couldn't sleep," Beast Boy groaned, leaning his head on the back of the couch and sagging against it even as he spoke.

"So, let me guess," Raven quipped, "You came in here and played Doom Monkey 3."

Beast Boy flopped back down on the couch, but gave Raven a thumbs up from behind it to let her know that she was correct.

Raven continued about her business, heating up a mug of water in the microwave and dropping a tea bag in it to steep. As she settled herself on a stool at the dining table, a green, three-toed claw slung itself over the back of the couch, and Beast Boy dragged himself upward in the form of a three-toed sloth. He had squinty, tired eyes and flared nostrils—the sloth equivalent of a frown.

It caught Raven off guard, and she laughed a bit louder than she would have otherwise let herself. Beast Boy's slothy jaw dropped and he morphed back into a human almost immediately.

"I was going to tell you to be quiet so I could sleep," he said, "but you laughed at me! I don't think that's happened since the day we met!" He leapt up victoriously and ran to the dining table. Raven scoffed.

"You were going to tell _me _to be quiet?" she asked incredulously, her laughter gone but the playfulness still present in her eyes, "You smack at the dinner table and stomp around like you've got cinderblocks strapped to your feet, and you're telling me to be quiet?"

Beast Boy cracked a nervous grin. "Uh… yes? Hey, don't try to change the subject!" he teased, "You laughed at me!" He turned into a sloth again and hung off of the side of the dinner table, slowly tilting his head as he stared at Raven from his upside-down vantage point.

She rolled her eyes and walked to the kitchen counter to fetch her tea, which had finished steeping. Beast Boy looked delighted when he returned to his human form, and walked around the kitchen with his chest puffed out like he had really accomplished something big.

They both settled down at the dining table eventually, Beast Boy nursing a cream soda. It looked like they had both turned to caffeine this morning.

"Are you going to get some sleep?" Raven asked.

"Nah," Beast Boy replied, "I actually needed to talk to you about… well, Terra."

"Oh? What about her?"

"Well, when do you want to tell the rest of the team what we know?" he asked pressingly. Robin's reaction was what he was most worried about.

Raven sighed and put her mug on the table. "Not for a while," she confessed. "I'm still… figuring things out." She thought of the dream she had, of the mysterious creature being somehow related to Terra, Slade, and Trigon. It threw a little bit of a wrench in her theory.

Beast Boy nodded, "No pressure. But, when do you want to tell Terra?"

"Give me a few hours," Raven said, "I'll figure it out. Then we can let everyone know. I just need some time to think on it."

"How do you do that?" Beast Boy asked bluntly.

"Do what?"

"Just… think about something and figure it out!"

"Did you really just ask that question?"

"You know what I mean, Raven," Beast Boy said genuinely, "You had this whole thing figured out before I knew there was anything wrong!"

"I'm just analytical, Beast Boy," Raven said, "You could do the same thing if you wanted."

"Not while I've got you around!" Beast Boy responded with a cheeky grin. Raven felt the corners of her mouth tug upwards in a smile. These years of friendship with Beast Boy were really making her go soft.

"So what do you have left to figure out?" Beast Boy asked. "Your theory sounded pretty solid to me."

"I had a dream earlier," Raven said. "It was… I'm not sure what it was, but I'm not ready to dismiss it as 'just a dream' quite yet. Trigon, Slade, Terra, and the creature we've been fighting were all connected somehow. I just don't know how the creature fits in yet."

"It kinda makes sense, Raven. It would explain why they all showed up at the same time."

"Yeah…," Raven trailed off. The cogs were turning in her mind as she dismissed herself from the table. "I'll find you when I get this figured out," she said as she left.

"Wait!"

"Yes, Beast Boy?" she said, a little surprised.

"Why don't you let me help you?" he asked. "We're in this together, after all."

"Okay," she answered, "I'm going to meditate for a few hours. Come find me this afternoon."

"Mmk," Beast Boy said with a smile, "Have fun meditating!" He waved her off and took a long swig of cream soda.

Between kissing Terra and making Raven laugh, Beast Boy was having a really good morning.

* * *

The monster was suspended in the air, returned to its original white form. A blank slate, the _Tabula Rasa_. Its eyes were shut, and limbs hanging limply. It was sedated.

Slade watched the massive beast bob lightly up and down. He was getting restless. The Titans should have been desperate to find him by now, should have made the connection between himself and Terra and the _Tabula Rasa_. He didn't spend long pondering their inaction, however. He would simply use more extreme means to get their attention.

* * *

A/N: The plot thickens! Hope you enjoyed, please review!


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